Improvement in the means for supplying locomotive-tenders with water



'Patgnted Jan- '6. 187 -1 w. E. PRALL, Means for Supplying Locomotive-Tenders with water.

h In: I no n'rrnn STATES PATENT CFFIGE.

IMPROVEMENT IN THE MEANS FOR SUPPLYING LOCOMOTIVE-TENDERS WITH WATER.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 146,277, dated January 6, 1874 application filed June 12, 1873.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Wu. E. PRALL, of Washington city, in the District of Columbia, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Means for Supplying Locomotive- Tenders with Water, of which the following is a specification:

This invention relates more particularly to an improvement on the Patent No. 116,752, granted to me July l, 1871, in which a tank containing air under pressure is carried by the engine, and is connected by suitable pipes with a water-tank sunken alongside the track, so that the water may be raised into the tender by the direct pressure of the air upon its surface. It consists in combining a steamgenerator with the aforesaid devices, the object of my invention being to increase the chiciency of the compressed air by expanding it f through the agency of heat derived from steam T admitted thereto while it is still confined.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of a locomotive engine and tender, and a sectional view of the well and water-tank arranged alongside of the track, to illustrate my invention; and Fig. 2, a crosssection of a three-way valve peculiarly formed for the purpose of uniting the air and steam pipes and controlling their admixture.

In carrying out my invention, the same combination and arrangement of devices may be used that are shown and described in my former patent.

-An air-pump, A, is attached to the engine and operated from its cross-head, or in any other well-known manner, and is connected by a pipe, B, with an air-reservoir, O, on the tender by a flexible hose-connection, B A steam-pipe, D, is attached to the steam-dome of the boiler, and a branch pipe, B extends from the air-pipe B to the steam-pipe Dfand the two are connected together byathreeway valve, E, or otherwise. This valve is provided with a discharge-nozzle, to which a suitable hose, F, is attached, and through which the air and steam, when mixed together, may be conveyed to the submerged watertank G. The tank is provided with a valve, 9, in the usual way, and a discharge-pipe, H, communicating with the bottom thereof, extends up through a water-crane, H, from which the water may be delivered to the tender.

In operation,the air and steam,when mixed together, pass through the hose F, and, acting upon the surface of the water in tank Gr, force it up through the discharge-pipe H into the tender. It is not essential that the steam and air should be brought together in the pipes, as above described, for the steam may be admitted to the air-tank to heat the volume of air confined therein before it is discharged therefrom into the watertank.

I do not claim the principle of admixing steam with atmospheric air for the purpose of producing an expansion of the air and of utilizing the resultant pressure, as I am aware that this principle has been utilized for various purposes.

I claim as my invention- The combination of the boiler of a locomotive with an air-chamber carried with or by a the locomotive, for receiving and retaining atmospheric air under pressure, a stationary water-reservoir apart therefrom, pipes for conveying steam from said boiler and air from said chamber to the said reservoir, and for conveying the water to the tender, and means for conveniently formingthe connectionsof said pipes with the air and water chambers, respectively, substantially as herein set forth.

I W. E. PRALL. Witnesses:

O. O. POOLE,

* O. DAVIDSON. 

